G 


553.4 


\m 


Report  on  the 
VANDERBURG  MINE 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


THE  COLLECTION  OF 
NORTH  CAROLINIANA 


Cp553.li 

¥22h 


REPORT 


YANDEEBUEG    MINE 


JAMES  T.  HODGE. 


NEW-YORK : 

QEOBQR   F.    NBSBITT   AND   CO.,  FiUNTBIiS,   OOBNBB   OF  WALL   AND   WATHtt   STBBST8. 

1853. 


REPORT 


VANDERBUKG    MINE 


JAMES  T.  HODGE, 


NEW-YORK : 

OBOBOB    I*.   NBSBITT  AMD  00.,  PBINSBRS,  OOBNBR  Off  WALL  AMD  WASBB   STB1BT*. 

1853. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2013 


http://archive.org/details/reportonvanderbuOOhodg 


^ 


REPORT 


VANDERBURG  MINING  COMPANY, 


EEPOET  OF  THE  VANDERBURG  MINING  COMPANY,  FORMED  UNDER  THE 
GENERAL  LAW  OF  THE  STATE  OF  NEW- YORK,  REGULATING  MINING- 
COMPANIES,  &e.  PASSED  FEBRUARY  17,  1848,  WITH  AMENDMENT  OF 
JUNE  8th,  1.853.. 


The  property  of  the  Vanderburg  Mining  Company  is  situa- 
ted in  the  County  of  Cabarras,  State  of  North  Carolina,  ad- 
joining what  is  known  as  the  Phoenix  Mine,  distant  twenty- 
two  miles  from  Charlotte,  the  terminus  of  the  Charlotte  and 
Columbia  Railroad,  and  seven  miles  from  Concord  ;  and  consists 
of  the  following-named  parcels  or  estates . 

The  .Vanderburg   Mine,    containing. . .250   acres. 


Barhart  Mine  and  Estate,  containing. ..  .156 


u 


"     Plunkett  "  "  ....   90       " 

"     Hagler  "  "         ....  80       " 

"     Barnhart  Mine  and  Estate         "         ....50       u 


Total   acres .626 


4 


Being  a  tract,  in  the  aggregate,  equal  to  one  square  mile  ; 
these  several  parcels  lying  adjoining,  and  on  the  north,  souths 
east,  and  west  of  the  lands  embraced  in  the  property  of  the 
Phoenix  Mining  Company,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  accompanying 
plan,  made  from  actual  survey ;  a  copy  of  which  is  in  the 
office  of  the  Company,  No.  35  Wall  Street,  Room  No.  10. 


REPORT. 


To  the  President  and  Directors  of  the   Vanderburg  Mining 

Company. 

Gentlemen  : 

I  have,  the  last  month,  made  a  survey  of  the  property  be- 
longing to  the  Vanderburg  Mining  Company  in  North  Carolina, 
and  herewith  send  you  a  map  I  have  prepared  of  the  same,  on 
which'  the  principal  veins  and  important  features  of  the  pro- 
perty will  be  found  plotted. 

The  main  track  comprises  several  estates,  now  consolidated 
into  one  :  it  has  an  extreme  length  north  and  south  of  about  one 
mile  and  100  rods,  and  east  and  west  is  nowhere  less  than 
200  rods.  It  bounds  the  yjroperty  of  the  Phoenix  Mining  Com- 
pany on  the  north  and  east,  and  it  must  have  upon  it  the  ex- 
tension of  all  the  veins  worked  by  this  company. 

It  is  about  six  miles  from  Concord,  in  Cabarras  county,  to 
which  place  the  North  Carolina  Railroad  will  be  in  operation 
next  spring. 

The  surface  of  the  country  is  elevated ;  it  is  moderately 
hilly,  fertile  and  well  watered.  The  principal  tract  is  about 
equally  divided  between  farming  and  timber  land.  The  growth 
is  mostly  oak,  with  growths  of  small  pines.  Many  of  the  large 
yellow  pines  are  intermixed  with  the  hard-wood  growth. 

The  rock  formation  is  greenstone,  seldom  seen  out-cropping, 
but  exposed  in  loose  pieces  over  the  surface,  and  reached  below 
by  mining  operations.     It  passes  into   a   highly  ferruginous 


6 


hornblende  rock,  with  which  is  associated  a  little  serpentine  and 
epidote.  The  slate  belt  of  this  region  lies  further  east ;  the 
granite  belt  is  on  the  west,  extending  beyond  Concord. 

A  great  number  of  metalliferous  veins  traverse  the  green- 
stone, pursuing  a  general  course  north  fifty  degrees,  to  north 
sixty-five  degrees  east.  They  consist  of  quartz,  with  which 
are  associated  sulphate  of  barytes,  spathic  iron,  and  pyritiferous 
iron  and  copper.  Gold  has  been  found  disseminated  so 
abundantly  through  the  vein  stones,  that  explorations  upon 
them  have  been  extensively  carried  on  at  times  when  mining 
operations  were  little  in  favor,  capital  not  abundant,  and  when 
the  ores  were  necessarily  transported  several  miles  to  the 
nearest  mill. 

The  vein  which  has  been  most  worked,  is  traced  across  a 
considerable  portion  of  the  Phoenix  tract,  and  the  whole  of  the 
Vanderburg,  by  a  succession  of  pits  sunk  along  its  line  of  out- 
crop. On  both  tracts  the  mining  upon  it  is  prosecuted  to  a 
depth  requiring  steam  power  for  the  extraction  of  the  water 
and  ores.  It  has  yielded  rich  bunches  of  gold  ore  near  the  sur- 
face \  and  throughout  the  vein  gold  is  diffused  in  such  quantity, 
that  the  heaps  of  ore  now  tying  upon  the  surface,  are  valued 
at  not  less  than  $2  per*  bushel  by  the  former  proprietors  of  the 
Vanderburg  mine.  Many  of  the  specimens  extracted,  present 
a  beautiful  show  of  coarse  gold,  such  as  are  not  often  found  at 
the  best  mines  in  the  State.  As  in  depth  the  vein  is  more 
pyritiferous  than  near  the  surface,  it  is  not  unlikely  the  pro- 
duction may  continue  to  greater  depths  than  is  usual  at  mines 
deficient  in  the  yellow  sulphuret  of  iron  and  copper.  At  Gold 
Hill,  in  the  same  vicinity,  gold  is  abundant  in  the  pyri- 
tiferous ores  to  the  greatest  depth  yet  reached,  which  is  340 
feet.  The  deepest  workings  on  the  Vanderburg  are  only  100 
feet.  Pyriious  copper  ore  is  found  in  such  quantity  that  the 
mine  may  fairly  be  regarded  as  a  copper  mine,  and  when  further 


opened  by  lower  levels  than  the  present  workings,  may  reason- 
ably be  expected  to  produce  largely  of  this  ore.  From  my 
•survey  of  the  mine,  sections  of  which  accompany  the  map,  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  whole  extent  of  the  underground  workings 
is  only  176  feet,  horizontally,  and  but  a  small  portion  of  this  is 
at  the  depth  of  the  bottom  of  the  shafts  ;  with  so  great  a  length 
of  vein,  the  workings  can  be  regarded  as  little  more  than  super- 
ficial. The  thickness  of  the  vein  varies  from  three  and  a  half 
feet  down  to  a  few  inches.  It  is  more  regular  than  the  veins 
in  Guilford  county.  It  is  remarkable  for  its  smooth  walls  and 
the  u  comb  ??  like  character  of  its  vein-stones.  This  feature, 
and  the  occurrence  of  the  materials  making  the  vein  in  parallel 
layers,  which  is  also  noticed  here,  are  regarded  by  miners  as  very 
favorable  signs  of  a  good  vein ;  of  itself,  this  vein  is  sufficient 
to  jiistify  the  establishment  of  mining  operations  on  a  liberal 
scale,  without  reference  to  the  other  veins,  some  of  which  I 
now  proceed  to  notice. 

The  next  vein  towards  the  south-east  is  eighteen  rods  distant, 
and  pursues  a  course  nearly  parallel  with  the  first,  so  far  as  it 
is  exposed  by  the  pits  opened  upon  it.  The  material  thrown 
out  appears  well  as  gold  ore,  and  is  encouraging  for  further  ex- 
ploration. The  ground  is  favorably  situated  for  opening  the 
mine  to  advantage ;  as  it  can  be  proved  for  this  season  at  little 
expense,  it  will  be  advisable  to  do  this  as  soon  as  a  mill  is  in 
operation  for  grinding  the  ores. 

The  third  vein  in  this  direction  is  called  the  "  Orchard  Vein ;" 
having  received  this  name*  on  the  Phoenix  tract,  frpm  which  it 
passes  into  the  Vanderburg.  It  is  on  the  latter,  about  eighty- 
three  rods  south-east  of  the  second  vein  just  described.  On 
the  Phoenix,  its  course  is  about  north  64°  east ;  approaching 
Plum  River,  it  curves  more  to  the  eastward,  and  its  line  of  out- 
crop is  very  crooked.  This  is  in  part  owing  to  the  unevenness 
of  the  surface,  which,  in  connection  with  an  underlay  or  dip  to 


8 


the  north-west,  somewhat  flat  on  the  surface,  would  give  greater 
irregularity  of  outline  to  the  out-crop  of  a  vein,  than  belongs  to 
its  true  course.  Many  pits  have  been  sunk  along  this  vein  on 
the  Vanderburg  ;  a  shaft,  also,  from  which  a  large  amount  of 
material  has  been  taken  out,  as  is  evident  from  the  size  of  the 
waste  heap  remaining ;  and  a  short  adit  has  been  driven  into 
the  hill  on  the  south-west  side  of  the  track.  On  the  Phoenix 
two  shafts  have  been  sunk  upon  the  same  vein,  and  a  whim  is 
now  in  operation  working  it.  My  only  means  of  forming  an 
opinion  of  this  vein,  were  the  general  reputation  it  has ;  the 
extent  of  the  former  operations,  which  corroborate  its  favorable 
reputation  ;  and  the  appearance  of  the  stuff  remaining  upon  the 
surface.  The  rock  forming  the  country,  is  greenstone  with  ser- 
pentine intermixed.  The  production  of  gold,  I  learn  from  good 
authority,  was  considerable,  though  the  ore  was  of  variable 
character.  Pyritous  copper  was  met  with  in  such  quantity, 
both  upon  the  Phoenix  and  Vanderburg,  that  one  would  be  well 
warranted  in  sinking  deep  shafts,  in  expectation  of  finding  this 
ore  in  abundance.  In  very  superficial  pits,  at  the  workings 
farthest  to  the  north-east,  near  the  spring  and  large  poplar  noted 
upon  the  map,  the  indications  of  good  copper  are  very  favor- 
able, and  here  would  be  a  convenient  point  for  sinking  upon 
the  vein,  and  taking  off  the  surface  water  by  a  short  adit. 
Were  a  new  company  to  be  organized  for  working  a  portion  of 
the  mines  of  this  tract,  Plum  Run  would  make  a  convenient- 
division,  and  leave  sufficient  territory  to  the  south-east  of  it. 

To  the  north-east  of  the  first  vein*  described,  another  vein  of 
importance  is  found,  about  fifty-seven  rods  distant.  It  has 
been  worked  on  the  lands  of  Julius  Vanderburg,  adjoining  the 
Company's  tract  on  the  north-east,  by  surface  digging,  and  by 
a  shaft  forty  feet  deep.  It  is  said  to  have  produced  good  gold 
ore.  On  the  other  side  the  property  bordering  the  Phoenix 
Company's  tract,  the  same  vein  (probably)  outcrops  on  a  little 


brook,  called  Monkey  Branch*  Both  gold  and  copper  ores 
are  here  found  loose  in  the  banks  of  the  stream  ;  and  not- 
withstanding the  prohibition  of  the  former  proprietor,  the 
place  has  been  with  some  a  favorite  resort  after  freshets  for  col- 
lecting little  "  nuggets"  of  gold.  All  applications  for  right  to 
Wash  the  deposits  have  been  steadily  refused.  From  the  in- 
formation I  gathered  from  one  who  has  been  accustomed 
to  the  business  of  gold  washing  in  this  region,  I  am  of  opinion 
the  vein  along  this  part  of  Monkey  Branch  will  be  found  a  very 
valuable  one  ;  and  the  copper  ore  met  with  in  the  stream,  which 
I  found  myself,  are  strong  evidence  of  a  workable  vein  of  this 
metal. 

"  Branch  mining,"  or  working  the  deposits  of  the  streams, 
has  been  prosecuted  to  considerable  extent  in  this  region.  A 
little  run  just  over  the  boundary,  in  the  farm  of  Julius  Vander- 
burg,  which  crosses  the  continuation  of  the  above  described 
vein,  as  also  that  of  the  vein  now  worked  by  the  Company,  has 
afforded  a  considerable  amount  of  coarse  gold. 

This  fact,  together  with  that  of  the  veins,  which  must  have 
furnished  this  deposit  gold,  being  actually  opened,  and  pre-= 
senting  highly  encouraging  features,  ought  to  inspire  strong 
confidence,  and  lead  to  the  laying  out  of  mining  operations  on 
a  scale  commensurate  with  the  extent  and  promise  of  the  pro- 
perty. With  a  mill  upon  the  spot  for  grinding  the  gold  ores, 
the  expense  of  transporting  these,  which  is  always  a  heavy 
item,  is  saved,  and  according  to  the  extent  of  the  mill,  its 
capability  of  grinding  up  the  poorer  ores  to  profit  in  larger 
quantities  is  increased,  while  the  general  expenses  are  reduced 
in  proportion  to  the  product.  All  mines  furnish  a  much 
larger  proportion  of  poor  than  rich  ores.  It  is  only  those 
which  are  extensively  worked,  and  provided  with  abundant 
machinery,  that  can  make  the  great  bulk  of  their  products 
profitable.     The   difference  in  the  returns  must  be  very  con- 


10 


siderable,  when  only  the  ores  yielding  one  dollar  or  more  per 
bushel  can  be  made  to  pay  the  expenses  of  preparation,  and 
vrhen  those  yielding  twenty-five  cents  can  be  worked  to  profit, 
as  is  the  case  at  some  of  the  gold  mines  in  Virginia.  Few 
companies  have  so  large  a  field  for  their  operations,  and  one 
containing  so  many  veins  known  to  be  productive,  as  the 
Vanderburg  Company. 

Along  the  north-western  boundary  of  the  tract,  are  pits 
sunk  upon  another  vein.  This  may  be  a  continuation  of  the 
u  Faggott  Vein,"  which  between  these  pits  and  the  Hagler 
Lot,  (belonging  to  the  Company,)  has  been  worked  quite 
extensively.  Several  shafts  were  sunk  upon  this  vein,  besides 
an  almost  continuous  line  of  pits,  up  to  the  boundary  of  the 
Hagler  Lot,  which  the  vein  enters  upon  its  northern  line. 
Running  in  a  direction  about  south,  thirty-four  degrees  west, 
its  course  is  obliquely  across  the  longest  dimensions  of  this 
lot ;  separated  from  the  nearest  point  of  the  main  tract  by  only 
fifteen  rods,  this  Hagler  Lot,  of  about  eighty  acres,  may  be 
worked  either  under  the  same  or  a  distinct  organization. 

The  out-crop  of  still  other  veins  is  marked  by  loose  pieces 
of  quartz  and  other  vein-stones,  near  the  eastern  boundary  of 
the  main  tract.  These  probably  connect  with  the  first  and 
second  veins  described.  Their  position  is  noted  on  the  map, 
and  no  work  having  been  done  upon  them,  a  particular  descrip- 
tion cannot  be  given. 

Beside  the  Hagler  Lot  is  another  tract  of  about  forty-six 
acres,  lying  near  the  main  body  of  the  property  of  the  Com- 
pany, on  the  northern  side  of  the  farms  of  Julius  Vanderburg 
and  Tice  Reinhardt.  The  nearest  point  of  approach  is  forty- 
live  rods  north,  sixty- two  degrees  thirty  minutes  east  of  the 
extreme  northern  corner ;  stretching  thence  to  the  eastward, 
the  lot  takes  the  continuation  of  the  veins,  which  pass  through 
the  centre  of  the  main  tract,  or  through  the  farm  of  J.  Van- 


11 


derburg.  Several  have  been  opened,  and  the  extent  of  the 
pits  upon  no  less  than  three  of  these  veins  indicate  that  here, 
too,  they  must  have  been  productive  in  gold.  Although  this 
tract  may  not  be  at  once  required  for  the  operations  of  the 
Company,  it  cannot  but  be  regarded  as  an  important  accession 
to  their  resources. 

The  "  Plunkett"  tract  is  a  fourth  lot,  about  two  miles  dis- 
tant to  the  southeast,  on  a  stream  called  Rock  River.  This 
contains  about  ninety  acres,  and,  I  am  informed,  has  upon  it 
veins  of  a  similar  character  to  the  others  in  this  region.  My 
time  was  too  limited  to  give  this  the  same  examination  as  the 
rest  of  the  property. 

With  such  resources— abundant  territory,  well  located  and 
containing  numerous  veins,  all  producing  gold,  and  some  cop- 
per ores  also — the  gold  in  many  of  the  veins  having,  heretofore, 
under  disadvantageous  circumstances,  extracted  to  profit,  and 
the  copper  .ores  having  every  appearance  of  increasing  in 
quantity  and  value  as  the  mines  are  worked  deeper — the  pro- 
perty of  the  Vanderburg  Mining  Company  is  likely  to  repay 
generously  the  capital  and  enterprise  expended  in  its  thorough 
development. 

Respectfully,  I  am, 

Yours,  &c, 

JAMES  T.  HODGE. 
December  22,  1858. 


12 


REMARKS 


GOLD  DIGGINGS  IN  THE  VANDERBURG  MINE 


NORTH    CAROLINA 


A  recent  mining  tour  made  with  the  President  of  the  Com- 
pany, allowed  me  to  view  the  mines  and  mining  operations 
carried  on  at  present,  with  great  energy,  in  the  county  of 
Cabarras,  State  of  North  Carolina.  The  most  positive  argu- 
ments of  the  existence  of  immense  quantities  of  precious  metal, 
have  already  been  laid  before  the  public,  and  even  a  superficial 
examination  of  the  mines  and  minerals,  must  convince  the  eye 
of  a  mineralogist,  that  the  report  lately  published  by  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Vanderburg,  does  not  exaggerate  in  the  least  the 
wealth  that  can  be  obtained  from  this  mine.  That  the  gold  is 
there,  needs  no  further  argument,  and  immense  quantities  of  it 
will  be  gained,  if  in  time  a  judicious  arrangement  should  be 
introduced,  founded  on  practical  science,  and  aided  by  the 
necessary  funds  and  practical  men.    At  present  it  is  considered 


13 


sufficient  to  extract  only  the  sands  and  earthy  rocks  ;  and  this 
is  done  in  a  way  by  which  only  a  comparatively  small  quantity 
of  the  gold  existing  therein  can  be  got.  No  regard  is  taken  of 
that  great,  and  in  many  cases  predominating  quality,  that  will 
not  yield  to  the  simple  processes  of  washing  and  amalgation. 

The  occurrence  of  gold  in  this  mine  is  widely  different  from 
that  in  the  diggings  of  California,  and  the  processes  sufficient  to 
extract  the  gold  of  the  California  sands  and  quartz,  are  insuffi- 
cient for  the  extraction  of  the  greatest  part  of  the  auriferous 
ores. 

It  is  easy  to  the  practical  metallurgist  to  show  that  a  very 
great  quantity  of  gold  necessarily  escapes  in  the  rough  pro- 
cesses of  working  which  are  now  in  use,  and  that  by  other  pro- 
cesses, and  better  constructed  apparatus,  adapted  to  these  ores, 
far  greater  profits  could  be  obtained,  without  raising  the  ex- 
penses in  the  same  ratio. 

The  rocks  through  which  the  veins  run  in  the  Vanderburg 
mine,  are  talcose  slate,  as  the  hanging  wall ;  greenstone  slate 
as  the  foot  wall,  often  with  sharp  separation  of  the  veins  from 
the  rock,  almost  throughout  the  whole  mass  of  the  rocks.  Iron 
pyrites  are  disseminated  in  small  brass-yellow  crystals  ag- 
gregating in  greater  number  where  quartz  veins  occur,  and  at 
the  borders  of  the  metallic  veins. 

The  ores  of  the  veins  are  generally  copper  pyrites,  (sulphu- 
ret  of  copper  and  iron,  kupferkies,)  intimately  mixed  with  iron 
pyrites  and  copper  glance,  of  the  most  beautiful  peacock  col- 
ors, and  frequently  in  well-formed  crystals.  Some  specimens 
show  the  valuable  red  copper  ore,  but  only  in  small  quantities. 
I  obtained  specimens  of  brown  sparry  and  clayey  iron  ore, 
(Carbonate  of  copper,  grunkupfererz,)  as  well  as  malachite  in 
druses  and  nests. 

Iron  occurs  as  pyrites  in  masses  and  single  crystals,  as  car- 
bonate and  aluminite.     The  latter  show  very  frequently  a 


14 


great  degree  of  decomposition,  great  friability,  a  cellular,  some- 
times lava-like,  structure,  with  nests  of  fine  crystallized  quartz 
and  other  minerals.  Some  specimens  which  contain  iron  oxides 
and  felspar  together,  illustrate  a  matter  cf  the  highest  minera- 
logical  interest ;  the  iron  oxides  are  in  the  shape  of  very  thin 
lamellae,  inclosing  an  empty  rhombic  -cell  of  exactly  the  same 
angles  as  the  crystalline  fissures  of  the  grayish  spar,  which 
latter  shows  a  very  advanced  state  of  decomposition.  The 
simplest  explanation  of  this  very  interesting  fact  is,  that  the 
iron  oxide  in  solution  filtered  into  the  crystalline  fissures  of  the 
spar,  and  combining  with  its  constituents,  formed  these  la- 
mellae, completing  at  the  same  time  its  decomposition. 

Wherever  the  iron  oxides  occur  in  that  friable  porous  state, 
lining  the  holes  of  quartz  or  pyrites,  (what  the  miners  call 
honey-combs,)  they  are  highly  auriferous,  and  yield  a  great 
quantity  to  simple  washing  and  amalgamating  process. 

Another  form  in  which  the  iron  occurs,  is  a  black,  heavy 
powder,  disseminated  through  the  iron  ores  and  auriferous  sands ; 
it  is  magnetic  iron,  and  occurs  so  generally  along  with  the  gold, 
that  the  diggers  of  the  Ural,  in  Russia,  Bohemia,  Austria  and 
other  countries,  consider  it  an  indicator  of  the  gold  itself. 

The  quartz  of  the  mine  show  very  frequently  beautiful  par- 
ticles of  gold,  mostly  in  fissures  colored  by  ferruginous  infil- 
trations, and  near  the  junction  with  the  adjacent  rocks,  seldom 
in  the  middle  of  the  silicious  mass. 

Wherever  the  quartz  occurs  in  a  cleft,  rugged  and  broken 
state,  intermixed  and  lined  with  earthy  iron  oxides,  (honey- 
combs,) there  the  richest  harvest  of  gold  can  be  expected. 

The  gold  itself,  disseminated  through  all  the  rocks  of  a  wide 
district,  is  for  the  greatest  part  invisible,  and  held  in  close 
combinations  with  the  pyrites  of  iron  and  copper,  and  is  found 
in  immense  quantities  at  this  locality.  It  is  among  the  gold 
miners  of  Europe  long  ago  well-understood,  that   even   the 


15 


richest  of  the  auriferous  p3rntes  yield  only  a  comparatively 
small  quantit}'  of  their  gold  to  direct  amalgamation.  Other 
processes  are  needed  to  develop  the  golden  treasures  from  the 
pyrites,  and  these  processes  are  neither  complicated  nor  expen- 
sive compared  with  their  certain  results. 

The  pyrites  of  the  Vanderburg  mine  are  richer  in  gold  than 
any  washed  in  Europe,  and  as  matters  now  stand,  it  can  reason- 
ably be  predicted,  that  by  a  more  scientific  and  judicious  man- 
agement, and  only  by  that,  the  Vanderburg  mine,  of  Cabarras 
county,  will  prove  one  of  the  best  and  most  profitable  enter- 
prises on  which  capital  may  be  invested. 

C.  LUDWIG  RICHTER, 

Practical  Metallurgist, 

From  Berlin. 
October  30,  1858, 


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ry 


